The 2014 European elections: why a partisan Commission president would be bad for the EU

The EU urgently needs measures to improve its democratic legitimacy and the decisions taken in its institutions. But the most prominent proposal touted in Brussels as the solution to the democratic deficit could make the problems worse rather than better. The idea is to run the European Parliament (EP) elections into a way to select the next president of the European Commission, with the four party families putting forward their choices as the face and voice of their 2014 campaigns. The authors argue that a strong, independent, non-partisan Commission is vital for the EU and the euro. If political parties nominate its next president, the Commission could not referee EU rules